Coincidences
by Ellisguy
Summary: During a visit to an uninteresting planet, something goes wrong. Colonel O'Neill disappears and another man takes his place. Who is this Mal Reynolds and can the team get O'Neill back? Set during the fifth season and postSerenity. Crossover.
1. The Switch

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Stargate SG-1 or Firefly/Serenity. I receive no monetary compensation for this work.

**Author's Note: **My first Stargate SG-1 Fanfic. I envision this happening around the time of the fifth season. Yes, this is a cross-over with Firefly/Serenity and the timeline for them is post-movie. I am writing two parallel stories. If you want to find out what happens in the other story line, look for the same story title in the other fandom.

**

* * *

**

**Chapter 1 - The Switch**

The stargate stood on a pedestal of stone in the middle of a rocky canyon. A thick layer of dust covered it giving the impression that it had not been used in some time. Not far away stood a circular device that somewhat resembled a flattened, black, lop-sided mushroom. The device had a number of curious looking symbols on it and they circled a large red dome.

Next to the black mushroom device stood what appeared to be a large metallic silver robotic vehicle. The vehicle was tracked and had several devices protruding from it, most notably a large mechanical arm. Curiously, this vehicle did not have a large layer of dust over it like the stargate or the black mushroom thing.

Suddenly, the ring on the stargate began to turn. The ring suddenly stopped as an amber crystal on the stargate illuminated, and then started turning again. This cycle of events continued until seven of the crystals were illuminated and what appeared to be a large pool of water erupted from the center of the stargate. The pool settled into gentle ripples, and after a few moments, four humanoid figures emerged from the vertically held pool. Following their emergence, the stargate shut down of its own accord causing the pool to disappear in a flash of light.

Colonel Jack O'Neill, one of the figures that emerged from the stargate, looked around for a moment as his mouth twisted into an unimpressed smirk. As he continued to survey the area, he said somewhat derisively, "Welcome travelers to P4M-628, land of dirt, rock, and, oh yes, a stargate!"

"And mysterious EM signals," Major Samantha Carter added as she studied her scanner.

"And mysterious EM signals," Colonel O'Neill amended as he approached the Major. "Are those the same mysterious EM signals that the MALP detected?"

"Yes, sir," Major Carter replied briefly looking up at her commanding officer. "They are the same irregular microsecond J-band pulses."

There was a moment of silence while Carter continued to study her scanner as O'Neill stared at her. O'Neill then impatiently asked, "And?"

"And I'm still trying to determine if there's any pattern to the pulses," Carter answered completely oblivious to the Colonel's agitated tone.

"Carter!" O'Neill exclaimed getting the Major's full attention. Then he asked her slowly and deliberately, "Which way?"

"Sorry, sir," Carter apologized before pointing down the canyon. "The signals are strongest in that direction."

"Fine," O'Neill said shaking his head as he turned to the rest of his team. "Teal'C, you and Carter take point and find the source of these signals. Daniel and I will bring up the rear."

"Colonel O'Neill," Teal'C said in a deep, powerful voice.

"Teal'C?" O'Neill asked curiously.

"I believe it would be unwise to leave the gate unguarded."

"C'mon, Teal'C!" O'Neill replied. "You said it yourself, this planet's been a backwater to the System Lords for as long as any of them can remember. I doubt very much that they would decide to come here after all this time."

"I still believe that waiting for the Tok'ra intelligence of this region of Goa'uld space would have been more prudent," Teal'c said dryly.

"And if we had, we wouldn't have come here for months, if at all. You know they've got their own agenda when it comes to us," O'Neill reasoned, but Teal'c simply stared at him in quiet disbelief. In response to Teal'c's withering stare, O'Neill approached his side and quietly said, "Listen Teal'c, Carter's been pushing to check out these signals ever since the MALP got here, and frankly I think we've all been a little stir crazy back at the base. Why don't we just have a little fun with this? I know that may be hard for you, but, I promise, at first sign of trouble, we'll head right back to the gate."

Teal'c simply turned his head and bowed his acceptance to O'Neill's suggestion. He then picked up his staff weapon and walked towards Major Carter. O'Neill repeated as Teal'c passed, "I promise, first sign."

Daniel Jackson approached O'Neill's side while looking around the area with a confused expression on his face. While watching Teal'c and Carter start to walk away, O'Neill asked Daniel, "Find anything?"

"Uhh,…nooo,…," Daniel replied hesitantly as he continued to look around.

O'Neill, hearing Daniel's hesitancy, turned his head, studied his friend's demeanor, and said, "Well, don't look so disappointed. There'll probably be something real important for you to study once we find the source of Carter's signals."

"I guess…," Daniel said still quite hesitant as he started after Carter and Teal'c.

"You guess?" O'Neill asked rhetorically as he followed after Daniel.

Thirty minutes later, all four members of SG-1 were still walking down the canyon with Carter and Teal'c in the lead. In the rear, O'Neill glanced over to Daniel and noticed that he was still looking troubled. Disturbed by his friend's distress, O'Neill called to him, saying, "Daniel!"

"What?" Daniel asked.

"You've got that look," O'Niell commented as he observed Teal'c and Carter slowly moving to one side of the slough.

"What look?" asked Daniel as he swiveled his head to O'Neill.

"That look that says there's something wrong but you're not sure what," O'Neill replied and an awkward silence followed. "So what's bothering you?"

"Well Jack," Daniel said taking a deep breath, "it's just that every planet we've been to has had some kind of related structure near the Stargate. Usually a temple, a road, something. Here we've been walking for a half an hour, and we haven't seen a thing. No structure, no sign of life, nothing to indicate why there should even be a stargate on this planet."

"We've got signals," O'Neill offered.

"That's my point," Daniel said earning a confused look from O'Neill. "What I mean is that the signals indicate that an advanced civilization was here, but all of our aerial reconnaissance of the planet shows it to be completely barren. If it weren't for the stargate and the signals, this planet would be of no interest to anyone. It looks like someone or something went to great lengths to make this planet look uninteresting."

O'Neill paused before asking, "And my question to you is: Why?"

"Well, that's what I'm not so sure about," Daniel answered. "It could be that whatever is being hidden on this planet was of such extreme value to its civilization, that they hid it from some threat in the hopes that they could recover it later."

There was a pause and O'Neill could sense there was something Daniel wasn't telling him. He cocked his head to the side and asked Daniel, "Or?"

Daniel lowered his head and huffed before he continued reluctantly in a much lower tone, "Or it's possible that what ever they hid is so terrible that they did not want it to be found ever again."

"You see, now that's what I like about you," O'Neill responded causing a bewildered look from Daniel. "You're always so up."

"Colonel O'Neill!" Carter called causing both men to look at her. "We've found something."

Looking back at Daniel, O'Neill said, "Guess we get to find out which one of your ideas is right."

Daniel nodded as they walked to where Carter and Teal'c were standing. Teal'c was facing the wall of the canyon and studying it intensely. Carter was standing behind him with her scanner outstretched to the wall. O'Neill asked, "What have you found?"

"There is a door concealed inside the rock," Teal'c answered as he traced what appeared to be cracks in the rock wall.

"The signals seem to be coming from behind it," Carter added as she put her scanner away. "I'd say this is the source, sir."

"Great!" O'Neill said walking up a few steps behind Teal'c. "We have a door. Now how do we open it?"

As if in response, the ground began to tremor. All of the members of SG-1 instinctually drew their weapons and circled up to defend themselves. As the ground continued to tremor, the cracks in the apparent doorway began to widen. Seeing this, Teal'c called out, "O'Neill!"

O'Neill looked at Teal'c and followed the Jaffa's outstretched arm to see the doorway open amid falling dust and rock. The tremors stopped as the rectangular doorway fully formed and revealed a long, dark hallway beyond it. The members of SG-1 relaxed a bit and then cautiously approached the now open door. O'Neill asked, "Does anybody know how that happened?"

"We must have set off some kind of trigger," Carter speculated. "Maybe there are some sensors hidden in the rocks."

"Indeed," Teal'c commented cryptically.

"Well, whatever it is, we're going to need lights in there, so break them out," O'Niell said staring down the pitch-black corridor. Suddenly banks of lights framing the corridor began to illuminate starting just inside the doorway and then continuing sequentially down the passage. Startled, O'Neill took a couple steps back, and then looked questioningly at Carter.

"Must have been triggered when you approached the door, sir," Carter offered as she and O'Neill gave each other sideways glances.

"Must have," O'Neill repeated. Looking at the rest of his team, O'Neill ordered, "Alright let's check it out."

SG-1 entered the corridor in the face of the cliff. They found that it extended for several hundred feet before opening up into a large rectangular room. The room had two rows of four square pillars that ran the length of the room and were offset from the walls by a few feet. O'Neill, Carter, Jackson and Teal'c entered the room and found that the doorway was in the center of one of the long walls. They saw that in the center of the room stood an unusual rectangular table-like device atop some raised steps.

Silently, O'Neill signaled to Carter and Teal'c to search the left side of the room while he and Daniel would search the right. The team fanned out quietly and searched for any possible threats before coming together on the other side of the room.

"Room is secure, sir," Carter declared to O'Neill.

"Very well, did you see anything on your end?" O'Neill asked.

"Well, there is a stone pillar on that end of the room," Carter replied cocking her head over her shoulder. "It appears to have some Ancient writing on it. I'd like to have Daniel check it out. I'd also like to check out the device in the center of the room. It looks similar to the one we encountered on P4X-639."

O'Neill grimaced noticeably at the reminder of the months where he and Teal'c repeated the same day over and over. "Okay, well there seems to be another passage over there. Teal'c and I will check it out while you and Daniel see what you can find out here. Stay in radio contact, let me know the minute you find something. Oh, and if that thing starts shooting out sparks,..."

"Yes, sir?" Carter asked.

"Shoot it!" O'Neill commanded with finality. He then turned quickly and started walking to the opening he had seen earlier. Teal'c bowed slightly to Daniel and Carter before following O'Neill. Carter and Daniel both looked at each other quizzically before moving off to their respective assignments.

"So Teal'c what do you think we'll find?" O'Neill asked as he approached the opening.

"Most likely something of interest," Teal'c replied following O'Neill.

Surprised, O'Neill turned back at the brink of the opening and asked Teal'c, "Really? You think so?"

"Is that not a usual consequence of our off-world missions?" Teal'c asked in reply.

O'Neill smiled and said, "Yes it is. You know, I think Daniel needs to take note of your enthusiasm."

Teal'c merely raised an eyebrow in reply, as O'Neill turned and walked into the opening. Teal'c was about to follow when he saw O'Neill stop short and let out a grunt. "Is there a problem, Colonel O'Niell?"

"Ah, I couldn't see it because of the light. This passage goes a few feet and stops. Looks like whoever was building this didn't get a chance to finish," O'Neill disheartedly said looking at the wall of rock in front of him.

"That is unfortunate," Teal'c commented looking back to Daniel and Carter in the distance.

"Yeah ...," O'Neill said before turning back towards Teal'c standing just outside the doorway. "Well let's see what Carter and Jackson..."

O'Neill was cut off by the sound of a distant roar. Both he and Teal'c looked up in response. After a moment, O'Neill asked, "Did that sound to you like...?"

"A Goa'uld death glider," Teal'c answered with finality.

"Crap!" O'Neill cursed. Suddenly Carter called over his radio.

"Colonel O'Neill!" she said.

"We know," O'Neill replied. "Alright, pack it up kids. We're going home."

Teal'c turned back from the doorway and headed to join Carter and Jackson. O'Neill was about to exit the door way when an energy field flickered on in front of him and shocked him back. He landed hard on his back with a loud grunt. Hearing this Teal'c turned to see O'Niell struggling to get back on his feet. "O'Neill!"

"Some kind of force shield just went up as I tried to leave," O'Neill warned Teal'C as he stood up.

"Stand aside," Teal'c said as he aimed his staff weapon at the doorway. O'Neill wisely complied and Teal'c fired a couple of blasts at the field. Unfortunately the blasts only dissipated against the shield. O'Neill tried to test if the field had weakened at all, but only received a sharp shock through his arm for his efforts.

Suddenly Daniel ran up yelling, "Jack! Jack! You can't be in there!"

"Well, unfortunately, I am!" O'Neill yelled back still grimacing from his shock to his arm.

"You don't understand!" Daniel said impatiently. "The inscriptions on the pillar warn of extreme danger for anyone who steps inside the chamber!"

"Well thanks, Daniel! I was already thinking that I don't want to be in here!" O'Neill replied. "Now can we please start thinking of a way to get me out?"

"Colonel!" Carter yelled over to them from the center of the room.

"We're having a little trouble over here, Carter!" O'Neill yelled back.

Unabated, Carter urgently yelled, "Sir! The device just activated on its own!"

Everyone grew silent at Carter's words and they all suddenly became aware of a low hum that gradually rose in pitch and intensity. As everyone looked around for the source of the noise, O'Neill yelled, "Okay, now I know I don't want to be in here!"

Suddenly a blinding flash of light emanated from inside the chamber. Teal'C, Daniel and Carter all shielded their eyes for a moment before they all chanced a look inside the chamber, unsure of what they would see. Carter ran up yelling, "Colonel!"

She stopped suddenly and raised her weapon as she realized the figure now standing inside the chamber was not Colonel Jack O'Neill. Daniel and Teal'c did the same mostly because the brown haired man in the long brown coat, tan pants and red shirt appeared to be holding a pistol. They all stood in silent bewilderment before Carter asked the man, "Who are you?"

The still stunned man looked back at her and stammered, "Name's Mal. Mal Reynolds."

* * *

Please review! 


	2. The Escape

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Firefly/Serenity or Stargate SG-1. I receive no monetary compensation for this work.

**Author's Note:** I know it took me over a year and a half to update. I hope you all will forgive, but I did have some distractions. Mainly, I had to find a new job and then move to a new state and get settled. I hope that this will be worth the wait.

* * *

**The Escape**

Major Carter, Teal'c, and Dr. Jackson were still inside the Ancient cave with their weapons drawn on the pistol-carrying, brown-coated man who appeared in the chamber where Colonel O'Neill had just vanished. Looking somewhat dazed and confused, the man who had just named himself as Mal Reynolds seemed to only be vaguely aware of the three other people standing just outside the chamber. Seeing this, Major Carter cautiously approached the chamber and silently signalled for the rest of SG-1 to lower their weapons.

"Mr. Reynolds!" she called causing the man to snap out of his daze and look at her. "Is that a weapon you're holding?"

Mal Reynolds gave Major Carter a look of befuddlement before answering, "It is."

"Would you please put it down?" Major Carter then asked.

Mal Reynolds swept a suspicious gaze over all of SG-1 and answered, "Gotta say, I'm not so inclined seein' as you all are holdin' weapons of some kind, or t'other."

Reynold's gaze stopped noticeably on Teal'c and while his expression changed from suspicion to curiosity. In response to Reynold's suspicions, Major Carter made a dramatic display of releasing her grip on her P90 and, while holding her hands up, she said, "We only have weapons so that we can defend ourselves. We are explorers from another planet."

"So you say," Reynolds replied, "but if I do as you're askin', how am I to know you won't try to put some holes in me?"

"Well, first, we do not work that way," Dr. Jackson said while walking up beside Major Carter, "and second, it would not do us any good if we tried."

"And how's that?" Reynolds asked guardedly.

"The chamber you are in has a force-shield over the entrance," Dr. Jackson replied.

"Force-shield!" Reynolds laughed. "What the gorram hell is a force-shield?"

To answer Mal Reynolds' question, Major Carter picked up a small rock and held it in front of her. She nodded to Dr. Jackson who, likewise, nodded back before stepping away a few paces. Major Carter then looked back at Mal Reynolds and tossed the rock towards the chamber. The rock traveled in a perfect parabolic trajectory until it reached the plane of the chamber entrance, where it was repelled and sent speeding to the back of the cave. Major Carter, herself, had to turn sideways to avoid being hit. When the rock hit the back wall, Major Carter turned back again to Mal Reynolds with effect and said, "_That_ is a force-shield."

Reynolds stood wide-eyed and silent with his mouth agape. It took him a moment to catch his voice and say, "_Wo de ma! _Does that work both ways?"

"Yes, it does," Major Carter replied with a nod.

"So if had took to shootin' you all when I first saw you, I could've...," Reynolds started to ask before his voice trailed off.

"Killed yourself," Teal'c supplied.

Reynolds gave Teal'c a surprised look before looking back at his pistol and holstering it. As he did so, Reynolds audibly said, "_Tamade hundan!_"

Reynolds' exclamation caused Dr. Jackson to look at him with more curiosity, however he remained silent as Major began to speak to the man again.

"Mr. Reynolds, we need your help," she said. "We need to know what just happened."

"Meanin'?" Reynolds asked.

"Meaning: we need to know how you appeared here with us," Daniel interjected.

"You mean to say, you weren't the ones that caused it?" Reynolds asked more urgently.

Sam, Daniel and Teal'c looked amongst each other somewhat questioningly before Daniel replied, "We thought that you may have."

"I'm fair certain I didn't," Reynolds replied. "Wasn't lookin' to leave first-mate wounded back there on Providence."

"Providence?" Sam asked. "Is that the planet you are from?"

"_From_ a planet called Shadow," Reynolds answered. "Was doin' some trade on Providence."

"Your civilization is capable of space travel then," Sam stated thoughtfully. "Do your ships have faster-than-light capabilities?"

Mal Reynolds paused for a moment to give Sam an incredulous look before answering, "As a rule: no."

"That would have made things a little easier," Sam said somewhat inwardly before thinking some more. "Would you be able to read star charts?"

By now Mal Reynolds was looking a little impatiently at the woman in front of him. With her last question, his impatience boiled over as he said, "Look Miss, I'd be willin' to answer questions to your hearts content, but that's providin' you tell me how you're plannin' on gettin' me back to where I came from."

"Mr. Reynolds! Mal!" Daniel interjected. "I think that's what my friend, Sam, is trying to figure out. You see, like you, we are from another planet. We came here using something we call a Stargate."

"First force-shields, and now star gates?" Mal Reynolds asked.

"Yes," Daniel nodded. "It's a way that we can travel between planetary systems throughout the galaxy. We may be able to use it to get you back home."

"Our method of travel is based on stellar coordinates that uniquely identifies each planetary system," Sam continued. "Basically, if we know the configuration of stars around your home system, we should be able to get you there, or at least near it."

"Let me see if I'm comprehendin'," Mal said. "This thing ain't yours, and you don't know how to work it to send me back?"

"Yes," Sam replied regretfully with a nod.

"But if I was to show you where I come from, you'd have another way of gettin' me back?" Mal asked still guardedly.

"Possibly," Sam said with as much hope as she could muster.

"Well, that's quite generous of you folks," Mal said carefully. "But, I just can't help ponderin' why you'd be so willin' to help me. What is there about this deal that you haven't thought to tell?"

"We would have to go with you," Sam said evenly.

"Fancyin' some more explorin'?" Mal questioned.

"There was a man, a friend of ours, trapped inside the chamber before you appeared," Dr. Jackson explained. "We are just trying to get him back."

"I think that this chamber must be some kind of transportation device," Sam hypothesized. "When it activated, it must have switched you for our friend."

"And seein' as how you don't know how activate it again," Mal offered, "you wanna see about gettin' your man back your own way. He must be important for y'all to go to so much trouble."

"It's very simple really, we don't like to leave our friends behind," Daniel explained. This caused Mal Reynolds to regard Daniel somewhat curiously.

After a moment, Sam asked, "Will you help us?"

"Gotta say I'm inclined after hearin' what that fella said," Mal Reynolds replied. "Y'see, we have a sayin' on my ship: crew don't get left. Seein' as y'all have similar way of thinkin', I'm willin' to trust you."

Suddenly, the force-shield flickered off catching everyone by surprise. Mal Reynolds was the first to speak up when he asked, "What was that?"

"The force-shield!" Sam gasped.

"I think it's down," Daniel said as he cautiously approached the edge of the chamber with his right hand outstretched towards Mal Reynolds. When he was able to grab hold of the brown-coated man's left arm, Daniel and Mr. Reynolds exchanged a significant look.

"Seems you're right about that shield bein' down," Mal Reynolds said with a smirk.

"Indeed," Teal'c added as he arched an eyebrow.

"Okay, Daniel, get Mr. Reynolds out of the chamber," Sam ordered quickly.

"We must leave quickly," Teal'c warned Sam. "The Goa'uld's first objective will be to secure the Stargate to prevent any reinforcements from reaching this planet."

"Understood. Thanks, Teal'c," Sam said. "Mr. Reynolds, I hope you don't have a problem with running."

"Got no problem, so long as it ain't runnin' away," Mal Reynolds replied.

Sam grimaced, saying, "I'm afraid it is."

"Is there a problem I should know about?" Mal Reynolds inquired.

"A race of beings called the Goa'uld is coming," Daniel explained. "One of their scout ships flew over us while we were in here."

"We were preparing to leave when our friend became trapped inside the chamber," Sam added to clarify.

"Not so nice folks?" Mal Reynolds inquired further.

"If we are captured by them, they will torture us, mercilessly," Teal'c supplied weightily.

In response, Mal Reynolds ducked his head down and muttered audibly, "Shoulda known, never runs smooth!"

Looking back up at SG-1's curious looks, Mal Reynolds said as he started swiftly walking out, "Don't let me slow you."

Taking the hint, Sam ordered, "Daniel, stay with Mr. Reynolds. Teal'c and I will be right behind you."

Daniel nodded and ran to catch up with Mal Reynolds before he left the cave. Sam and Teal'c followed closely behind. Once outside, however, Daniel grabbed Mal Reynolds and signaled Sam and Teal'c to stop as well by shouting, "Wait!"

"What's wrong, Daniel?" Sam asked.

"The cave entrance, it's not closing!" Daniel replied in alarm.

The rest of the group looked back at the cave entrance to see, in fact that it was still open. "Indeed," Teal'c said curiously.

"What's he means by that?" Mal Reynolds asked Sam.

"When we arrived, the entrance to the cave opened out of the rock." Sam explained. "We thought some hidden sensors might have triggered it."

"Do we really have time to be ponderin' why that thing opened and ain't closin'?" Mal Reynolds pressed.

Sam replied, "Mr. Reynolds, we have no idea what this technology means. In the hands of the Goa'uld, there is no telling what they could do with it."

"Oh, so then I'm guessin' you want it closed to spite them bungers!" Mal Reynolds then said. Suddenly, the ground tremored, and the entrance to the cave started closing. The four people watched in startled amazement as the gaping opening in the rock reduced to a barely visible crack. When the tremors stopped, Teal'c, Sam, and Daniel all looked at Mal Reynolds curiously.

"What?" He asked.

"The cave appeared to have closed at your command," Teal'c said evenly.

"I didn't command it to do anythin'!" Mr. Reynolds replied defensively.

"But you did want it to close," Daniel declared.

"We all wanted it to close!" Mal Reynolds defended to everyone else's disbelieving looks.

Daniel was about to say something to counter Mr. Reynolds claim, but Sam interrupted, shouting, "Guys! This is pointless right now! It's closed and we need to be heading back to the gate!"

There was a moment of guilty silence between the men before Teal'c nodded his assent and said, "Agreed."

Daniel and Mal Reynolds both followed suit. Then, with Daniel leading Mal Reynolds and Teal'c and Sam bringing up the rear, the four of them set out at jog down the canyon towards the Stargate. Fifteen minutes later, the group was trotting around a bend when the Stargate came into view. On seeing the up-ended black ring with inlaid amber stones, Mal Reynolds slowed his run and asked, "Is that your star gate thing?"

"Yes, that's it" Daniel explained as he coaxed Mal to run a little faster.

"Really," Mal said somewhat ignoring Daniels efforts to make him run faster. "Was expectin' somthin' a bit more fancified."

"Basically it's a stone ring made out of a superconducting mineral. It creates a wormhole that allows us to travel between planets," Daniel answered. Then he added impatiently, "Sam can explain it to you much better once we get through."

On noticing Daniel's insistent sleeve tugging, Mal Reynolds forcefully stopped and said somewhat indignantly, "I know there ain't much time, but allow me a little to ask whether this contraption is safe."

Suddenly, a staff weapon blast exploded behind them. Daniel grabbed a shocked and bewildered Mal Reynolds and shouted, "It is safer than staying here!"

Daniel and Mal Reynolds made for a dead sprint to the DHD, while Teal'c and Sam located their attackers; a couple of jaffa atop the canyon wall to their right. Teal'c killed one of them immediately with a blast from his own staff weapon, and the other was eliminated by Sam a few seconds later with a burst from her P90. With the immediate threat eliminated, Sam and Teal'c went to join Daniel and Mal who were already arriving at the DHD.

"Dial the gate!" Sam ordered as she and Teal'c took positions to cover Daniel and Mal's backs.

"On it!" Daniel said as he keyed in the first few symbols. Suddenly, more blasts exploded around them, and looking back the way they had come, the remainder of SG-1 and Mal Reynolds saw a squad of jaffa stampeding around the bend. Teal'c and Sam engaged them from behind some rocks to slow them down.

"This is a right interestin' job you got here," Mal commented as he huddled next to the DHD and watched Daniel key in a couple more symbols. "This an often occurrence?"

"We have our good days and our bad days," Daniel answered wryly as he punched in the last two symbols. Then a staff blast whizzed by his head and he took cover behind the DHD. Mal Reynolds then commented, "One of your bad days, I take it."

Looking around the DHD, Daniel and Mal saw three more jaffa had managed to place themselves in front of the gate and were unleashing a barrage just short of the DHD. Mal asked amidst the blasts, "Why in hell haven't they just blasted us?"

"Because they don't want to damage this," Daniel said pointing to the DHD as the two of them huddled behind it. "And I think they want to force us to surrender."

"Well, I've come too far to be surrenderin' now," Mal said just before jumping up, drawing his pistol and quickly shooting down two of the jaffa. Daniel managed to pull Mal down just in time before the third unleashed another volley at him. Daniel then slapped the center red dome on the DHD to activate the stargate. The jaffa was disintegrated instantly by the kawoosh!

"Gate's open!" Daniel shouted as he pulled out his IDC and punched in SG-1's code.

"Alright! Move out!" Sam shouted back as she and Teal'c engaged the Jaffa squad behind them.

As Daniel grabbed Mal to help him up, Mal asked, "Wait! What about that bunger over . . . there?"

Mal noticed that the jaffa was now gone. Where he had been standing there looked to be some smoldering remnants of feet. As Daniel led Mal to the gate, the realization hit him and Mal dug in his heels as he neared the event horizon. Daniel, who was behind him, stopped and asked, "What's wrong?"

"You told me this thing was safe!" Mal said in an accusatory tone as he turned back to Daniel. He then pointed to the remains of the jaffa and said, "Didn't look to be too safe for him!"

"Look! We can explain that, but now is not the time!" Daniel said urgently.

"Best make some, 'cause I ain't goin' till you do," Mal said low and menacingly.

Daniel paused for a moment. He could not believe that Mal was being this obstinate as the staff blasts and gunfire approached. With a pained expression, Daniel looked Mal in the eyes and said, "Sorry."

Mal's eyes went wide and he shouted the beginnings of a Mandarin curse as Daniel shoved him through the event horizon. Daniel paused for a moment before following.

In the SGC, alarms sounded as the stargate was activated. Chief Master Sergeant Norman Davis announced the familiar phrase "unscheduled off-world activation" and security teams raced to the gateroom with weapons drawn. General Hammond descended the spiral staircase into the control room and asked, "Sergeant, what have you got?"

"Incoming traveler, sir," Davis replied. "It's SG-1. They're coming in hot."

"Open the Iris, and close the blast doors," General Hammond ordered. He then bent to the microphone and said to the security teams in the gateroom, "Condition Red, men! SG-1 is coming in hot."

With that order, a phalanx of heavily armed men formed at the base of the gate ramp. When the Iris was opened to reveal the shimmering event horizon behind it, all of them had there weapons trained at the gate ready to shoot anything hostile. After a few seconds, Mal Reynolds came tumbling and yelling through. He rolled down the ramp until he ended up near the bottom, flat on his back with his head facing down the ramp. His coat was splayed open, and he was still clutching his pistol while he was staring up at four separate M16 muzzles. Realizing his new predicament, Mal put on a warm smile and said, "Hey!"

"Don't shoot!" Daniel cried from atop the gate ramp. "He's with us!"

"Hold your fire," General Hammond's voice echoed through the room. The guards complied, but did not shift their aim.

Daniel ran down the ramp towards Mal and the security detail just as Sam and Teal'c emerged from the Stargate. Stepping to each side of the ring, they narrowly avoided being hit by staff weapon blasts that followed them through. Fortunately, the blasts flew over the top of everyone else in the gate room and impacted harmlessly on the blast doors protecting the control room.

"Close the Iris," Sam ordered as she and Teal'c prepared for the arrival of unfriendlies. The Iris closed amid more staff weapon blasts coming through the Stargate, but no jaffa emerged. When the Iris had fully closed, the sound of more blasts impacting upon it could be heard. This continued for a few seconds before three much larger thuds were heard, and then the Stargate shut down. With the situation now apparently under control, the blast doors began to open on the gate room and General Hammond was the first one to enter.

"Secure that weapon, Airman!" he commanded upon seeing Mal Reynolds pistol. One of the security men reached down and took the pistol from Mal's unresisting hand. With that task completed, General Hammond looked up and ordered, "SG-1, report! Who is this man, and where is Colonel O'Neill?"

"Sir, this man is Mal Reynolds and we do not currently know where the Colonel is," Sam replied. As she spoke, Daniel lifted Mal Reynolds to his feet. The brown-coated man regarded the General with a sense of respect and fear.

"Explain, Major Carter," General Hammond then said. Mal looked at her in surprise as he mouthed the word "major."

Sam ignored Mal Reynolds as she continued with her explanation to General Hammond. "We believe we found an Ancient transportation device on the planet. Unfortunately, it somehow activated with Colonel O'Neill inside and apparently switched him with Mal Reynolds. We do not know if we activated it or if it happened on the other end. Our best guess is that Colonel O'Neill is wherever Mr. Reynolds had been."

"Did you try to activate the device again?" General Hammond asked.

"There was very little time, General Hammond," Teal'c said.

"He's right, sir." Sam said. "The Goa'uld appear to be occupying the planet. We just managed to return to the Gate before they secured it. I don't think we would have delayed any longer."

General Hammond looked around the gate room before nodding. "Agreed, but do you know if Colonel O'Neill is safe where he is now?"

Major Carter shook her head and said, "I can't be certain, sir."

"Ah, General, perhaps I can enlighten you folks on this matter," Mal Reynolds interjected.

Surprised, General Hammond turned to and stared at the brown-coated man.

"General, _sir_," Mal Reynolds stammered under the General's glare. "Name's Malcolm Reynolds and I captain a spaceship called Serenity. I tell you this 'cause your Colonel is likely with my crew back on Providence. I can tell you they're a fine crew and wouldn't leave him stranded."

"That is provided they see some need to keep him," General Hammond countered.

"Well, y'don't know my crew," Mal defended. "I gotta a girl who's a mite perceptive when it comes to those things."

General Hammond gave Mal Reynolds a hard look before speaking again. "Major Carter, I do believe that Colonel O'Neill is safe for the moment. Do you, however, have a plan to get him back?"

"Mr. Reynolds has agreed to help us with that," Sam replied. "We believe that if we give him access to our star charts that he should be able to locate his home system for us."

"If we can locate a gate nearby, we could use one of our allies capable of space-travel to get us there, return Mal Reynolds and find Jack," Daniel said.

"Very well," General Hammond said. "I want a briefing on your plan as soon as all of you are cleared by Dr. Fraiser."

General Hammond then turned back to Mal Reynolds and said, "It appears that for the time being, you are our guest, Mr. Reynolds. I apologize for the way we greeted you earlier, but, as you can see, not everyone who comes through the Stargate is our friend."

"'Tis understandable, General," Mal replied a little more confidently. "'Verse ain't a safe place. One's gotta take precautions."

"Good, then I hope you'll also understand that we'll need our doctors to examine you as a standard safety precaution," General Hammond said.

"Got no problem with that," Mal replied with a smile. "The doc on my crew that won't let us go nowhere without bein' innoc'ed proper."

"Fine, Dr. Jackson will show you the way," General Hammond said returning a confident smile. Daniel Jackson had already handed over his weapons and was by Mal Reynolds at this time. He nodded to General Hammond then took hold of Mal Reynolds arm and lead him out of the Gate Room. Mal Reynolds complied, but did give Dr. Jackson a look of suspicion that was ignored. Teal'c silently followed the pair, and General Hammond made his way back to Major Carter, who was just finishing her weapons exchange.

"Major Carter," General Hammond said.

"Yes, sir?" Sam replied questioningly.

"Tell Dr. Fraiser that I want a complete work-up performed on Mr. Reynolds, medical and psychological," the General ordered. "Then tell Dr. Jackson to interview him."

"Sir?" Sam questioned.

"I have a feeling that I want to know all I can about Captain Malcolm Reynolds," General Hammond said ominously as he stared out the Gate Room door.

* * *

Please Review!


End file.
